Fast & Furious: Adrenaline

There are a lot of racing games on the iPhone. The hand-held’s tilt controls lends itself to the genre. Players can choose among Real Racing,Asphalt 5 and a plethora of similar titles. With so many options, it’s hard for a racer to stand out, but Fast & the Furious: Adrenaline manages to do so.

It’s more of an arcade racer than a straight sim. Players move around by tilting the iPhone left and right to steer. They even have a nitro button that lets them boost passed rivals during road races. Players don’t have to worry about braking or hitting the gas because those are done automatically. The game features three modes of play: a story mode with a loose narrative based around racing events; a quick play, which gets players straight into racing; and a multiplayer mode, which offers online and asynchronous play.

I was surprised by the number of events I could take part in. Aside from the aforementioned Road Race, players can engage in Cop Chases, where they have to outrun the police to a spot, and drag races, where quickly shifting gears is vital. Although there are a handful of events, the number of tracks are disappointing. Most of time, players will be driving through the same old L.A. roadways that they’ve seen before.